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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26002027">The Taste of You</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ipomea/pseuds/ipomea'>ipomea</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Death Stranding (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(kind of), Aphenphosmphobia, Come Swallowing, Edging, Enemies With Benefits, Facials, Higgs is catastrophically horny, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Masturbation, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Power Exchange, Semi-Public Sex, Timefall (Death Stranding), bottom higgs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 03:42:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,811</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26002027</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ipomea/pseuds/ipomea</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam's rest is interrupted by a familiar, yet foreign face.</p><p>Takes place around Chapter 6 of the game. Kinda spoiler-y if you haven't read Higgs' journals.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sam Porter Bridges/Higgs Monaghan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>100</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Taste of You</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>this my first ever actually published fanfiction, but not the first I've written. titled after the song by Ritual Howls which I definitely suggest giving a listen if you like this pairing.</p><p>edit: 2021/02/07 I polished this a little, fixed up grammar and tense issues :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Sam's trekking the mountains alone now. He hasn't slept in forty-eight hours either. It wouldn't feel right to, with Lou fighting so hard for him back at Mountain Knot City. All he can do is trudge on and expand the Chiral Network and pray it does</span>
  <em>
    <span> something </span>
  </em>
  <span>to help her recover. He can't continue like this any longer, though. His canteen's been dry for the last five kilometres up the mountain, and he's started to notice his vision blur for the last two at the very least. His shoulders are aching and ground raw by the dozens of kilograms of cargo he has strapped to his back. Worst of all, his battery is running low and threatening to shut off the active skeleton and thermal pads attached to his suit, the only things keeping him going.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He has to rest, at least enough to charge his battery a little bit. Luckily enough, he spots a divot in the rock face and makes his way inside. It's not very deep, and it's barely an upswing in temperature from outside, but at least he's protected from the windchill and snow. He sits down and unclasps the bands of his backpack. He instinctively looks down to his chest for Lou and feels a wave of melancholy wash over him when she isn't there. He dozes off, head tucked between his knees and his arms wrapped around his shins as the snow continues to fall outside the cave.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Familiarly, he finds himself on the Beach. His head rests on the sand, and he's content enough to listen to the waves crash against the sand and take in the scent of saltwater. The warm breeze ruffles his hair as he idly watches the water. He waits patiently for Amelie, but there's no sign of her. After some time, he picks up the sound of footsteps in the sand from a distance. As they draw closer, something tells him it's not Amelie; there's something</span>
  <em>
    <span> off </span>
  </em>
  <span>that he can't place. Sam doesn't move. He's paralyzed as these foreign footsteps make their way to him through the sand, louder and louder, until they stop. In an instant, his vision is clouded by the gleaming gold of chiralium.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Higgs. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sammy-boy!"</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Christ. </span>
  </em>
  <span>The voice startles him awake. Sam opens his eyes and looks up, confronted by the very man from his dream. A tall, dark figure stands in the cave's entrance, illuminated by the shine of snow. He isn't sure if what he heard was part of his dream or if Higgs had called out to him in his sleep. Moreover, he wonders how long Higgs has been standing there watching him. He snaps to his senses and stands up, reflexively reaching for his strand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Now, now, don't look so excited to see me!" Higgs laughs from behind the mask. "Don't worry, I'm not here to fight, Sam. The time ain't right. I guess you could say I'm just a fellow traveler looking for any port in a storm just like you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sam stays silent. Higgs cocks his head and fixes his gaze on him, waiting for something, anything.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Ah, my apologies, maybe you'd feel more like talking with this out of the way," Higgs slips the mask off his face and rolls the mesh mask underneath it down to reveal his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stares Higgs dead in the eyes, crossing his arms and furrowing his brow. He'd seen his face briefly before—albeit unknowingly—on the day he'd disguised himself as a Bridges employee. It's vastly different now. He can take in his features, even in the dim light. For the first time, he sees the piercing blue of his eyes accentuated by the dark makeup around them. His gaze is sharply turned towards the puzzling indecipherable scrawl of numbers and symbols tattooed across his forehead. Thin lips curl up into a presumptuous smile as Higgs watches Sam's eyes map every inch of his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Now, tell me, just </span>
  <em>
    <span>what</span>
  </em>
  <span> are you doing sleeping out here in the middle of a Timefall storm? Especially without that little doll of yours, don't you know better by now, Sam?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Fucking cold. Can't get anywhere like this," Sam mutters.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We could warm each other up," Higgs lilts as he draws closer to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The hell are you talking about?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Are you that naive? Well, bless your little heart," Higgs laughs, now too close for comfort. "I'm saying we should fuck, obviously."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You fucking with me?" he scoffs in disbelief.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I get it. What do they call it again? 'Aphenphosmphobia,' right?" Higgs chides before disappearing in a flash and leaving behind little flecks of chiralium.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That's not it—"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, we don't have to touch each other. Just show me how you'd do it by yourself, that's enough for me," Higgs continues, suddenly from behind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sam doesn't speak. He knits his brows and crosses his arms, staring up at the other man, trying to figure out just what the</span>
  <em>
    <span> hell </span>
  </em>
  <span>this all means. Higgs' expression is anything but demure, his eyes open wide with that shit-eating smirk across his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And why the fuck would you want that?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Higgs chuckles and shrugs as he paces around him slowly. "You know, everything aside, you're quite the beautiful specimen, Sam. It's a shame you don't share that body of yours with the world—or what's left of it for now, anyway."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sam's blood runs cold, a shiver rolling down his spine as Higgs speaks. He can feel his face flush from his cheeks to his ears; maybe it's the cold, maybe it's...something else. He doesn't know how to respond. His mouth just hangs agape as Higgs drones on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Besides, I know how stressed you are. I can feel that...</span>
  <em>
    <span>tension </span>
  </em>
  <span>in every inch of your body without even touching you. Wouldn't it do some good to let it all out?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sam meets his eyes, and the ostentatious look Higgs flashes back at him is enough to make him reel. What he can't believe is the fact that he's actually considering it, stripping off and jerking off in front of a fucking domestic terrorist. It's been so long since he'd relieved himself, he couldn't even remember the last time. Occasionally, when he didn't dream of the Beach, of Amelie, he'd dream about the feeling of warm flesh against his own. He'd wake up aroused and slightly ashamed, rushing for a cold shower the minute he regained his bearings. He has to tell himself this is worth it, that it's all some sort of ploy to learn more about Higgs, gain some kind of advantage, but deep down, he knows that some sick part of him wants this. Some fucking hero he is, alright.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Fine."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sam removes the thermal pads from his suit before unzipping it and bringing the top down to his waist. He stops for a moment and has to ask himself, </span>
  <em>
    <span>What the fuck am I doing? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Realizing it's altogether too late to have second thoughts now, he continues to dismantle the exoskeleton and discard it with the rest of his gear. Stealing over to look at Higgs, he sees that he's also in a similar state of undress. He's taken the ridiculous cloak off and placed it on a boulder, the chiral mask resting atop it. He still has his undershirt on, but Sam can see how lean he is compared to himself. Higgs pulls his shirt over his head and gives Sam a salacious smirk as he does it. His gaze quickly moves lower to look at Higgs' body. He stares in awe at the countless scars and marks mapped across it, like a painting left unfinished. He wonders where they're all from; they don't look like standard battle scars—rather meticulous, patterned scars spanning the man's lifetime. He can definitely make out a few cigarette burns along his clavicle and shoulders, then there's stitch marks along his ribs and neat lines of keloid scars running down his stomach with similar ones along his forearms. It's not much, but it's a little window into the soul of Higgs Monaghan—assuming he still has one.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's rude to stare, y'know," Higgs snaps him out of his thoughts. "C'mon, take your shirt off too, don't be shy now."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sam pauses for a moment, at least trying to give the illusion of defiance before he complies quickly and slips his undershirt over his head and discards it with his cargo. He doesn't know what to do now that they're both undressed. He's not hard—far from it—and he doesn't know what to do with his hands, where to look, what to say. It's all virgin territory for him. The only person he'd been with before was his wife, and he hardly had a clue what to do there either, let alone in a cave above Mountain Knot City with the leader of a terrorist group. For now, he leans back against a ledge of rock in the cave's wall and waits for something to happen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As if reading his mind, Higgs drops to his knees before him, somehow still retaining that patronizing expression below him. "I have to admit Sam, I've seen you out in the hot springs, but it doesn't even compare to seeing you up close like this."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You've watched me</span>
  <em>
    <span> bathe </span>
  </em>
  <span>?" Sam replies, utterly dumbfounded. "When the hell—"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Don't sound so shocked!" Higgs cuts in over him. "No harm in just looking at the goods, is there?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sam groans in revulsion and looks down at him. Higgs already has his hand on his cock, leisurely stroking it with one hand as the other tugs down on Sam's pant leg. With a groan, Sam yields and brings his suit down lower to expose his cock. He closes his eyes and runs his cold hand down his torso, pushing through pubic hair, free hand tugging his briefs down. He puts the head of his cock between his thumb and his forefinger, sliding the foreskin back and then over the head, continuing until he starts to feel himself at half-mast. He brings his other hand up to his chest and squeezes a nipple between his fingers, his lips now parted and his head tilted back as he loses himself in the sensation of the cold air against his flushed skin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Now ain't that a sight to behold," Higgs mumbles, tugging him back to reality in an instant.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Shut up."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, I don't think I will," he retorts. "I don't think you understand how long I've waited for this. How much I've wanted your cock inside my mouth, and how much I've wanted you to </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck </span>
  </em>
  <span>me, Sam."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sam doesn't respond with words, but his cock's definitely hard now. He opens his eyes and looks down at Higgs' foreboding expression. The man's free hand is placed beside Sam's left thigh, and his head cocked back mere inches away from his cock. He can feel Higgs' hot breath against his balls, now coming in faster and harder. Higgs is practically fucking his fist, hips moving more than his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But we can't have that. So I've compromised for the next best thing, and I'm gonna savour it 'til I can get my hands on the real deal."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Not gonna happen," Sam grunts under his breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He'd be lying if he wasn't thinking about it, though. From his vantage point, he could push Higgs down and force his cock into his mouth, fuck his throat until the little shit cries underneath him. Maybe he'd even give him the satisfaction of fucking him, Higgs' face buried in the dirt while he fucked him from behind, pinning his wrists behind his back so he couldn't touch himself, couldn't get off from it. Not easily, at least.</span>
  <em>
    <span> Jesus</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he thinks to himself, completely caught off guard by the dark nature of his own thoughts. Sam tightens the grip on his cock and starts slowly, working the tight tunnel of his fist up and down even faster.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He can tell Higgs is close, but there's an air between them, something that says whoever comes first is the loser of this little 'game.' Higgs has to stop everything and breathe for a moment to stop himself from coming. He looks up at Sam closely during those moments, studying the rise and fall of his chest, the way his foreskin rolls over the head of his cock, the strings of pre-cum hanging from the tip. It's almost too much for Sam to tolerate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You close?" Sam asks, just a hint of petulance in his voice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Heh, me? I'm nowhere fucking near," Higgs answers confidently, but his laboured breathing tells a different story. "I ain't gonna cum first like some teenage virgin seeing tits up close for the first time."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Higgs repeatedly takes himself to the edge before he snaps his hand up in the air and clenches his fist, hissing expletives under his breath. It's apparent that Higgs doesn't know how to pace himself or slow down, it's all about chasing the dragon to him. It's no surprise to Sam that Higgs approaches sex with the same precipitous bravado he does anything else. He can hardly control himself. All he wants is for Sam to lurch forward and shove his cock inside his mouth; it's </span>
  <em>
    <span>so </span>
  </em>
  <span>close, he can almost taste it. Predictably, impulsivity and desire get the best of him. He inches upwards and licks the underside of Sam's cock from where Sam's knuckles rest on the base to the tip. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sam grabs him by the hair and holds his head back. "Don't fucking touch me."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Alright, alright," Higgs chuckles nervously, putting his hands up in the air in surrender.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Higgs sits back down on his heels and looks up at Sam like a dejected puppy. The characteristic smirk soon returns to his face as he closes his eyes and savours the taste of Sam's precum, the smell of sweat, and the sharp tug of Sam's fingers in his hair. Sam despises that Higgs likes it, but he hates that he likes it even more. He tugs Higgs' head forward, just centimetres away from the head of his cock.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Open your mouth."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Without any hesitation Higgs opens his mouth wide and sticks his tongue out for him, waiting with bated breath for Sam to finish. They're both on the edge, though Higgs has been for quite a while. Sam has nearly matched Higgs' pace and rhythm, and his breath quickens as the sensation of Higgs' heaving breath against his cock brings him closer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Fuck," he groans, his voice low and coarse. "I'm gonna come soon."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's at this moment, with Higgs' eyes wild and glossy, his tongue hanging out of his mouth and dripping spittle down his chin, that Sam likewise finds Higgs </span>
  <em>
    <span>'quite the beautiful specimen.'</span>
  </em>
  <span> In an instant, Sam's coming hard, shooting ropes of cum on Higgs' tongue. He swallows dutifully, brings his hand up to his chin to wipe up any excess, and sucks his fingers clean. Sam's hand goes slack, releasing Higgs as they both slump back and catch their breath. He doesn't know when Higgs finished, whether it was before or after himself, but with his head hanging down in exhaustion, he can make out semen splattered all over his boots. </span>
  <em>
    <span> Great. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>"Didn't know you had it in you, Sam," Higgs hums, clearly pleased with himself. "How'd sleeping with the enemy feel?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sam doesn't give him the satisfaction of a response. He stays pinned against the wall, eyes fixed on Higgs as he stands up and places a hand behind his head. Higgs leans forward, his face in the crook of his neck, taking in the scent of sweat and shame. He's too caught up in the afterglow to fight it when Higgs gently places his lips against the soft skin there. When he comes back up for air Sam watches his eyelashes flutter in delight as he admires the dark mark left behind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Something to remember me by 'til next time."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Higgs steps backward, holding his gaze as he begins to put himself back together. By the time he's hooking his BB-pod up to the odradek, Sam's barely had the strength to pull his undershirt back over his head. He slumps back and watches him with half-lidded eyes. Higgs hadn't lied when he said he wasn't there to fight, but Sam feels as if being chased by some invincible conjured beast across seas of tar would weigh lighter on his mind. He can't place his finger on it--why he lets Higgs get so close, </span>
  <em>
    <span> too </span>
  </em>
  <span>close.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Just what the hell does any of this mean, Higgs?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It means whatever you want it to, darlin'," Higgs gives him a curt wave before he leaves the cave and disappears before his eyes.</span>
</p><p><span>Sam bounds after him in the snow, well aware that he</span>'s nowhere to be found.</p>
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